Egypt Today

FM: Egypt counts on EU Parliament's EPP-Group to support stability in region

Sunday، 18 February 2018 - 11:35 AM

Text Size:AAA

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Saturday said Egypt counts on the European People's Party group (EPP-Group) at the EU Parliament to understand the challenges facing the country at this delicate stage, and to support efforts to achieve regional security and stability.

The center-right EPP-Group is the largest political group within the European Parliament and consists of democratic Christian parties, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement. He added that the group gives priority to the fight against terrorism, extremism, illegal immigration issues and regional developments.

Meeting leader of the EPP-Group Manfred Weber in Munich, Shoukry expressed Egypt's satisfaction with the overall institutional cooperation between Egypt and the European Union.

He hailed the key role played by the EU in dealing with Egypt's security challenges which are related to terrorism.

Shoukry affirmed the urgent need for European support for the economic reform program adopted by the Egyptian government and the Sustainable Development Strategy 2030.

He said that Egypt is preparing a package of joint cooperation programs and projects in line with the priorities of Egypt's overall sustainable development strategy. This comes within the government's preparations to negotiate with the European Commission concerning reaching an agreement on the final list of projects to be implemented according to the memorandum of understanding signed in October 2017 in Cairo.

For his part, Weber hailed the current progress in Egypt's relations with the European Union, as well as efforts made by the country to confront illegal immigration and terrorism at the levels of security and ideology.